Method and device for detecting touch input

ABSTRACT

Provided is a touch input detection method that detects a contact or approach of a touch input means ( 90 ) such as a finger of a human body, an electric conductor or a touch pen on a touch panel ( 10 ) and produces an input signal. The touch input detection method includes the steps of: (a) detecting a first touch input; (b) calculating an area where the first touch input has been detected; (c) detecting a second touch input that occurs at a predetermined time interval after occurrence of the first touch input; (d) calculating an area where the second touch input has been detected; and (e) judging a change in the areas from the first touch input to the second touch input to thus produce a zooming signal. Accordingly, a zooming signal is produced according to a change in an area of a touch input, to thus implement a zoom gesture very simply, to also realize the zoom gesture with only one finger, and to thereby achieve a touch input operation compactly.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/391,288 filed Feb. 19, 2012 (now pending), which is a national entryof International Application No. PCT/KR2010/005516, filed Aug. 20, 2010,which claims priority to Korea Patent Appl. No. 10-2009-0077574 filedAug. 21, 2009 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entirecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a touch input detection method anddevice, and more particularly, to a touch input detection method anddevice that detects touch inputs, calculates an area of a region wherethe touch input has occurred, judges a change of the area according tolapse of time and produces a zooming signal.

BACKGROUND ART

Usually, a touch input device is an input device attached onto orincorporated in a display device such as LCD (Liquid Crystal Display),PDP (Plasma Display Panel), OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode), andAMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) and detects a touchsignal corresponding to a touch point as an input signal when an objectsuch as a finger or pen contacts the touch input device. The touch inputdevice is very widely used for mobile devices such as mobile phones, PDA(Personal Digital Assistant), and PDP (Portable Multimedia Player).Besides, the touch input device is also applied to a large-sized videodisplay device such as monitors and TVs.

The touch input device generates an input signal corresponding to acoordinate of a touch point when a touch input occurs at at least oneselectable area among a plurality of selectable areas that are usuallydisplayed as graphic images on a touch panel. For example, if graphicimages such as icons or keypads provided on a screen of a display deviceare touched, input signals that correspond to the selected icons orkeypads are generated.

As described above, in the case that graphic images such as icons orkeypads are displayed on a screen, background images overlap with thegraphic images such as icons or keypads for touch inputs. As a result,the background images may deteriorate. In addition, there is a problemthat touch inputs may become complicated since graphic images such asicons or keypads for touch inputs should be activated.

For example, a method of detecting a zoom gesture in a conventionaltouch panel includes the steps of activating icons for inputting thezoom gesture, touching a corresponding icon, and generating a zoom-in orzoom-out signal in correspondence to the input icon. In addition, when azoom gesture is ended, a user should close icons for the zoom gestureagain. This zoom gesture realization method has problems that backgroundimages overlap with the graphic images such as icons or keypads fortouch inputs as described above, GUI (Graphical User Interface) for azoom gesture should be provided separately, and user's touch inputsbecome complicated.

In addition, a conventional zoom gesture detection method has a problemthat it is difficult to select an area to be expanded or reduced on ascreen. In most cases, an area to be expanded or reduced on a screenshould be selected, or cannot be selected in advance, prior to startinga zoom gesture.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of conventional art, itis an object of the present invention to provide a touch input detectionmethod and device that detects that an area where a touch input hasoccurred changes according to lapse of time, to thus detect a zoomgesture, and to thereby simplify a structure of a screen, have no needto separately provide a graphical user interface (GUI) for a zoomgesture, designate an area to be expanded or reduced very conveniently,and make it convenient for a user to perform a touch input.

Technical Solution

To attain the above object of the present invention, according to anaspect of the present invention, there is provided a touch inputdetection method that detects a contact or approach of a touch inputmeans (90) such as a finger of a human body, an electric conductor or atouch pen on a touch panel (10) and produces an input signal, the touchinput detection method comprising the steps of:

(a) detecting a first touch input;

(b) calculating an area where the first touch input has been detected;

(c) detecting a second touch input that occurs at a predetermined timeinterval after occurrence of the first touch input;

(d) calculating an area where the second touch input has been detected;and

(e) judging a change in the areas from the first touch input to thesecond touch input to thus produce a zooming signal.

Preferably but not necessarily, at the step (e), a zoom-in signal isproduced when the area of the second touch input increases in comparisonwith that of the first touch input, and a zoom-out signal is producedwhen the area of the second touch input decreases in comparison withthat of the first touch input.

Preferably but not necessarily, at the step (e), a zoom-out signal isproduced when the area of the second touch input increases in comparisonwith that of the first touch input, and a zoom-in signal is producedwhen the area of the second touch input decreases in comparison withthat of the first touch input.

Preferably but not necessarily, at the step (e), a change in the areasfrom the first touch input to the second touch input is judged in thecase that the first touch input and the second touch input continuouslyoccur to thereby produce a zooming signal.

Preferably but not necessarily, at the step (e), a change in the areasfrom the first touch input to the second touch input is judged in thecase that the first touch input and the second touch inputintermittently occur to thereby produce a zooming signal.

Preferably but not necessarily, at the step (e), a zooming signal thatmagnifies or reduces a screen on the basis of a central point of thearea where the first touch input has occurred is produced.

Preferably but not necessarily, the touch panel (10) is a touch panel(10) where a plurality of touch cells (60) that detect a touch inputindividually are arranged in a matrix form, and calculation of the areasat the steps (b) and (d) is achieved by adding the number of the touchcells (60) where the touch inputs have been detected.

Preferably but not necessarily, the touch panel (10) is a touch panel(10) where a plurality of touch cells (60) that detect a touch inputindividually are arranged in a matrix form, and calculation of the areasat the steps (b) and (d) is achieved by detecting magnitude of anelectrostatic capacity of the touch cells (60) where the touch inputshave been detected.

To attain the above object of the present invention, according toanother aspect of the present invention, there is provided a touch inputdetection device that detects a contact or approach of a touch inputmeans (90) such as a finger of a human body, an electric conductor or atouch pen on a touch panel (10) and produces an input signal, the touchinput detection device comprising:

a touch input detector (70) that detects a touch input when the touchinput occurs on the touch panel (10);

an area calculator (80) that calculates an area of a corresponding touchinput region at a point in place where the touch input has been detectedwhen the touch input detector has detected the touch input; and

a zooming signal generator (85) that judges a change in the area of thetouch input that has been calculated in the area calculator (80)according to lapse of time.

Preferably but not necessarily, the zooming signal generator (85)produces a zoom-in signal when the area of the touch input regionincreases according to lapse of time, and produces a zoom-out signalwhen the area of the touch input region decreases according to lapse oftime.

Preferably but not necessarily, the zooming signal generator (85)produces a zoom-out signal when the area of the touch input regionincreases according to lapse of time, and produces a zoom-in signal whenthe area of the touch input region decreases according to lapse of time.

Preferably but not necessarily, the touch panel (10) is installed in theupper portion of a display device.

Preferably but not necessarily, the touch panel (10) is installed in adisplay device as any one substrate of substrates that are included inthe display device.

Preferably but not necessarily, the touch panel (10) is a touch panel(10) where a plurality of touch cells (60) are arranged in a matrixform, and the area calculator (80) calculates the area of the touchinput region by adding the number of the touch cells (60) where thetouch inputs have been detected.

Preferably but not necessarily, the touch panel (10) is a touch panel(10) where a plurality of touch cells (60) are arranged in a matrixform, wherein each touch cell (60) comprises at lease one 3-terminaltype switching element (40) for switching a position detection signaland a conductive pad (50) that is connected to any one terminal of the3-terminal type switching element (40), and wherein the touch inputdetector (70) detects a signal that is generated due to charging anddischarging of a virtual capacitor that is formed between the touchinput means (90) and the conductive pad (50) to thus detect a touchinput.

Preferably but not necessarily, the area calculator (80) detectsmagnitude of an electrostatic capacity of the touch cell (60) where thetouch input has been detected to thus calculate an area of the touchinput region.

Advantageous Effects

As described above, the touch input detection method and deviceaccording to this invention, compares an area of a first touch inputwith that of a second touch input that occurs with a time differencewith respect to the first touch input, and produces a zoom-in signal anda zoom-out signal according to an increase in the areas of the secondtouch input in comparison with the first touch input, and a decreasetherein, to thereby implement a zoom gesture by a simple operation thata user makes his or her one finger touched on a touch panel and liftedup and down on the touch panel, has no need to separately provide agraphical user interface (GUI) for a zoom gesture to thereby simplify analgorithm for detection of touch inputs and to thus simplify a structureof a screen, magnifies or reduces a screen on the basis of the areawhere the first touch input has occurred, to thereby designate an areato be expanded or reduced very conveniently, and makes it convenient fora user to perform a touch input.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomemore apparent by describing the preferred embodiments with reference tothe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a disassembled perspective view showing an example of astructure of a display device;

FIG. 2 is a diagram for conceptually explaining an electrostaticcapacity formation example between the human body and a conductive pad;

FIG. 3 is a configurational diagram showing an embodiment of a touchinput detection device according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a configurational example of a unit touchcell in the FIG. 3 embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view cut along a line I-I′ of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a configurational diagram showing another embodiment of atouch input detection device according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a waveform diagram showing an example of detecting touchsignals in the FIG. 6 embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart view showing a touch input detection methodaccording to this invention;

FIGS. 9A through 9E are diagrams showing an example of an example ofimplementing a zooming control according to this invention; and

FIGS. 10A and 10B are diagrams showing other examples of touch inputsaccording to the present invention.

BEST MODE

Hereinbelow, a touch input detection method and device according topreferred embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the present invention relates to a touch input detection devicethat detects a contact or approach of a touch input means 90 such as afinger of a human body, an electric conductor or a touch pen thatcontacts the human body, on a touch panel and produces an input signal.In particular, the present invention relates to a touch input detectiondevice that detects a zoom gesture. The touch input detection device isattached onto or incorporated in a display device such as LCD (LiquidCrystal Display), PDP (Plasma Display Panel), OLED (Organic LightEmitting Diode), and AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light EmittingDiode), or is installed in a display device as any one substrate ofsubstrates that are included in the display device.

The touch input detection method and device according to the presentinvention can be implemented in various types of touch panels such as aresistance type touch panel that detects a touch point as a change in aresistance value, an optical type touch panel that detects a touch pointoptically, a pressure type touch panel that detects a pressure typetouch input, a capacitive type touch panel that detects a soft contactor approach of a human body or an electronic pen in an electrostaticcapacitive mode.

To help comprehension of this invention, the composition of a touchpanel in which a plurality of touch cells that detect a touch inputindividually are arranged will be described below. The composition ofthe touch panel that is described below is nothing but an embodiment.The technological idea of the present invention can be applied in theabove-described different types of touch panels.

Touch cells each formed of a 3-terminal type switching element such as aTFT (Thin Film Transistor) and a conductive pad are formed on a singlesubstrate, in the case of a touch panel that will be described below.Accordingly, the touch panel detects a charge accumulated in a virtualcapacitor formed between a touch input means and the conductive pad invarious forms and acquires a touch signal, when the touch input meanssuch as a part of the human body such as a finger, an iron pen, anelectronic pen that generates a predetermined electrical signal, or thelike approaches the conductive pad in a non-contact manner.

As an embodiment of the present invention, a switching element is turnedon/off by virtual capacitor which is formed between the touch inputmeans and the conductive pad to thus acquire a touch signal. Although itwill not be referred to as an embodiment of the present invention, anon/off control signal for turning on/off the switching element isseparately applied to the switching element, to thus detect a chargethat has been accumulated in the virtual capacitor which is formedbetween the touch input means and the conductive pad and acquire a touchsignal. In addition, when an electronic pen that generates apredetermined electrical signal approaches to a conductive pad, it willbe detected whether the virtual capacitor is charged or discharged, tothus acquire a touch signal.

In the following drawings, thickness or areas have been enlarged todefinitely show several layers and areas. Through the whole detaileddescription of the specification, like reference numerals are used forlike elements. When it is mentioned that a portion such as a layer, anarea and a substrate is placed “on” or “on the upper surface” of anotherportion, this means that the portion is not only placed “justly on” theother portion but also the former is placed on a third portion betweenthe former and the latter. In contrary, when it is mentioned that acertain portion is placed “justly on” another portion, this means thatthere are no other portions between them.

In addition, in the following embodiments, switching elements can beexplained as being replaced with “TFTs.” Accordingly, identicalreference numerals are used for the switching elements and TFTs.

A “zooming signal” that will be described below designates a signal thatmagnifies or reduces an image. For example, a “zoom-in” signal is asignal that magnifies an image and a “zoom-out” signal is a signal thatreduces an image.

FIG. 1 shows an example in which a touch panel is installed as an uppersubstrate of a display device. Referring to FIG. 1, the display deviceincludes two substrates largely like a general display device. In thecase of a LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), a lower substrate 20 is a TFT(Thin Film Transistor) substrate on the upper surface of which pixelsand pixel electrodes are arranged, TFTs are respectively arranged in aunit pixel, and gate lines and data lines are arranged. An uppersubstrate 30 is a color filter substrate on which color filters areprinted. A liquid crystal layer in which liquid crystal is sealed isformed between the lower substrate 20 and the upper substrate 30. In thecase of an AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode), a lowersubstrate 20 is a TFT substrate that is formed similarly to the LCD, andan upper substrate 30 is a sealed substrate for sealing organic matters.The lower substrate 20 and the upper substrate 30 are formed of a lighttransmittance material such as glass, plastic or film. The lowersubstrate 20 and the upper substrate 30 can be formed of a substratehaving a multi-layer structure that is not a single layer substrate. Forexample, the upper substrate 30 can be configured by mounting touchcomponents including touch cells 60 on a film, and laminating this filmwith a glass or plastic substrate.

As illustrated, a gate integrated circuit (IC) 26 and a sourceintegrated circuit (IC) 28 are mounted at an edge portion of the lowersubstrate 20. The gate IC 26 applies a gate signal to a TFT that isinstalled in each unit pixel, and the source IC 28 applies a data signalto each TFT. The gate IC 26 and the source IC 28 are drive ICs forcontrolling signals for display, respectively, and are mounted at theedge portion of the lower substrate 20 in the form of COF (Chip On Film)or COG (Chip On Glass).

Here, a plurality of signal lines are arranged in order to detect thetouch inputs. A touch signal drive integrated circuit (IC) 71 is furtherinstalled in order to control these signal lines. As illustrated, thetouch signal drive IC 71 is mounted at the edge portion of the uppersubstrate 30 or the lower substrate 20 in the form of COF (Chip On Film)or COG (Chip On Glass).

FIG. 2 shows a principle of detecting a non-contact touch input (withrespect to a conductive pad to be described later) conceptually. Thetouch input means 90 is a bodily finger in FIG. 2. Of course, the touchinput means 90 may be formed of other conductors that have electricalcharacteristics similar to the bodily finger. Referring to FIG. 2,assuming that a distance between the finger and the conductive pad 50 isan interval “d” and corresponds to an area “A”, when a finger approachesto the conductive pad 50, an electrostatic capacity “C” is formedbetween the finger and the conductive pad 50 as shown in a right sideequivalent circuit of FIG. 2 and a formula, that is, C=(eA)/d. In thiscase, the earth acts as a virtual ground with respect to the human body.Therefore, charges can be accumulated in the electrostatic capacity “C”formed between the finger and the conductive pad 50 if voltage isapplied to the conductive pad 50. Hereinbelow, the electrostaticcapacity “C” is expressed as the virtual capacitor. As an embodiment,when the human body contacts the conductive pad 50, the electrostaticcapacity of 10-20 pF is formed. When the human body approaches to theconductive pad 50 at a non-contact state, the electrostatic capacity of2-5 pF can be formed according to permittivity “e” of an object betweenthe human body and the conductive pad 50.

FIG. 3 is a configurational diagram showing an embodiment of a touchinput detection device according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a plurality of first signal lines 32, second signallines 34 and auxiliary signal lines 37 are arranged on the upper orlower surface of the upper substrate 30. The first signal lines 32 arelines to send position detection signals D1-D3, and the second signallines 34 are lines to receive the position detection signals S1-S3. Theauxiliary signal lines 37 are lines to apply auxiliary signals forobserving position detection signals. A touch signal drive IC 71transmits and receives the position detection signals D1-D3 and S 1-S3to and from the signal lines 32 and 34, respectively, and applies theauxiliary signals Aux1, Aux2 and Aux3 for observation to the auxiliarysignal lines 37, respectively.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a configurational example of unit touchcells 60. Referring to FIG. 4, the unit touch cells 60 each includes a3-terminal type switching element 40 and a conductive pad 50. The3-terminal type switching element 40 is a TFT desirably. The TFT 40 thatforms a touch cell 60 is installed on the upper substrate 30, anddiffers from a TFT for video signal switching that is installed on thelower substrate 20. Since the touch cell 60 includes the TFT 40, it iseasy to control the TFT to be turned on/off by applying a gate signal tothe gate electrode of the TFT, and it is advantageous that flowing andinterference of signals can be intercepted stably. In addition, signalsin each touch cell 60 are divided or partitioned, using this feature, tothereby enable a multi-touch operation to be recognized. In addition,the TFT 40 is advantageous in that this component is verified in thefield of LCD or AMOLED.

Referring to FIG. 4, the gate electrode of the TFT 40 is connected tothe first signal line 32 in each touch cell 60, and the input electrodeand the output electrode of the TFT 40 are connected to the auxiliarysignal line 37 and the second signal line 34, respectively. Meanwhile,the conductive pad 50 is connected to the gate electrode of the TFT 40.Referring to FIG. 4, the gate electrode 56 of the TFT 40 withdrawn fromthe first signal line 32 is connected to the conductive pad 50. Thesource electrode 57 of the TFT 40 is connected to the auxiliary signalline 37, and the drain electrode 58 thereof is connected to the secondsignal line 34. Contact holes 59 of a contact process that uses ITO(Indium Tin Oxide) are used at portions where terminals, signal lines,conductive pads, etc., of a layer are mutually connected with otherlayers.

Here, the conductive pad 50 is formed by coating a transparentconductive material such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide), IZO (Indium ZincOxide), ATO (Antimony Tin Oxide), and CNT (Carbon Nano Tube) on onesurface of the upper substrate 30. The conductive pad 50 can beinstalled only in a local area of the touch cell 60, but as illustratedin FIG. 4, the conductive pad 50 is installed in the touch cell 60 so asto have as possible as a wide area. As the area of the conductive pad 50becomes large, virtual capacitance formed between the touch input means90 and the conductive pad 50 becomes large to thus acquire a touchsignal stably.

The cross-sectional view of FIG. 5 is a cross-section that is formed bypartially cutting the plane composition of FIG. 4, and shows a layerstructure in the unit touch cell 60. Although the touch components canbe installed on the upper or lower surface of the upper substrate 30,the cross-sectional view of FIG. 5 shows an example that the touchcomponents are installed on the upper surface of the upper substrate 30.

Referring to FIG. 5, the gate electrode 56 of the TFT 40 is formed onthe same metal layer as that of the first signal line 32, the sourceelectrode 57 thereof is formed on the same metal layer as that ofauxiliary signal line 37, and the drain electrode 58 thereof is formedon the same metal layer as that of the second signal line 34. Asillustrated, the gate electrode 56 is installed in the TFT 40. The TFT40 includes an active layer 53 that forms a channel between the sourceelectrode 57 and the drain electrode 58. The active layer 53 is formedto overlap the source electrode 57 and the drain electrode 58. An ohmiccontact layer 54 for ohmic contact between the source electrode 57 andthe drain electrode 58 is further formed on the active layer 57. Theactive layer 57 is formed of amorphous silicon (A-si) or poly-silicon(P-Si).

A gate insulation layer 51 is formed on the upper surface of the gateelectrode 56, and a passivation layer 52 is formed on the upper surfaceof the source electrode 57 and the drain electrode 58, respectively. Asillustrated, in order to connect the conductive pad 50 on the gateelectrode 56 of the TFT 40, the contact hole 59 using ITO etc. is used.

As illustrated, in the case that the touch components are installed onthe upper surface of the upper substrate 30, a transparent insulationlayer 55 is coated on the upper surface of the upper substrate 30, tothereby protect the touch components. The transparent insulation layer55 prevents the touch components from being exposed and thus damaged,and simultaneously plays a role of keeping a stabilized gap between thetouch input means 90 and the conductive pad 50. Also, use of thetransparent insulation layer 55 enables a gap between the touch inputmeans 90 and the conductive pad 50 to be kept narrow. Accordingly, adistance variable of the denominator in the formula, that is, C=(eA)/dbecomes small, when virtual capacitance is formed by approaching of thetouch input means 90, and the virtual capacitance becomes large.

If the touch components are installed on the lower surface of the uppersubstrate 30, the transparent insulation layer 55 can be removed. Thisis because the touch components are safely protected by the uppersubstrate 30, and because the touch input means 90 and the conductivepad 50 can keep a stabilized gap by thickness of the upper substrate 30.In this case, there are advantages of simplifying a manufacturingprocess more and heightening transmissivity since no transparentinsulation layer 55 is used.

Meanwhile, although not illustrated, a light shield layer to interceptlight can be installed on the upper surface of the TFT 40. The lightshield layer can be formed of metal used in manufacturing the sourceelectrode 57 or drain electrode 58 of the TFT 40, metal used inmanufacturing the gate electrode 56, or an impermeable insulation layer.The impermeable insulation layer can be formed of an oxide layer ornitride layer or an insulation poly-silicon layer. This light shieldlayer prevents the TFT 40 from reacting with the light andmalfunctioning.

In addition, the light shield layer formed of the impermeable insulationlayer can be formed on the upper or lower surface of the first signallines 32, the second signal lines 34, the auxiliary signal lines 37 orthe other signal lines to be described later. The light shield layerformed on the upper surface of the TFT 40 and the light shield layerformed on the upper surface of the signal lines 32, 34, and 37 areformed in an identical mask and formed all at once in a samemanufacturing process. The light shield layer for the signal lines 32,34, and 37 can solve problems of deteriorating visibility caused byreflecting light from the signal lines to thus induce a flash anddeteriorating a contrast of the display device.

The passivation layer can be formed again on the upper portion of thelight shield layer. The passivation layer is a nitride layer or glass(PSG) layer formed on the outside layer of the light shield layer, andis formed chiefly for the purpose of increasing a physical strength, andenhancing tolerance and insulation property for outside moisture ortemperature.

The composition of the above-described touch panel is nothing but anexample of explaining a touch input detection method and deviceaccording to the present invention. Although the above-described touchpanel has been described with respect to the electrostatic capacitytouch panel, the touch panel can be implemented into a resistance type,an optical type, a pressure type, or the other various types, so as todetect touch inputs.

Referring back to FIG. 3, the touch input detection device according tothe present invention will be described. Referring to FIG. 3, it can beseen that the touch cells 60 are illustrated in a resolution of 3×3.Actually, although the touch cells 60 will be arranged in a very highresolution, a reason why that the touch cells 60 have been arranged in aresolution of 3×3 in FIG. 3 is nothing but an example that isillustrated to help understanding the invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a touch input detector 70 is installed at the edgeportion of one side of the upper substrate 30 or at the outside thereof.As illustrated, the touch input detector 70 includes a touch signaldrive IC 71, a timing controller 72, a signal processor 73 and a memoryunit 74. A touch signal that is acquired in the touch input detector 70is delivered to an area calculator 80, and the area calculator 80calculates an area of a region where a touch input has occurred. Inaddition, a zooming signal generator 85 produces a zoom-in or zoom-outsignal according to a change in the calculated area of the touch input.

The touch signal drive IC 71 applies a position detection signal to thefirst signal lines 32, and receives the position detection signal fromthe second signal lines 34. In addition, the touch signal drive IC 71can apply a gate signal and an auxiliary signal for observation even togate signal lines 36 and auxiliary signal lines 37 to be referred in theembodiments to be described later.

The timing controller 72 generates a time sharing signal, and the signalprocessor 73 applies the position detection signal, the gate signal, andthe auxiliary signal for observation that have been time shared to thetouch signal drive IC 71 according to clock provided from the timingcontroller 72. The memory unit 74 is a unit for storing coordinatevalues of the touch cells 60 from which touch inputs are detected. Anelectric power supply 75 is a unit for creating high or low voltage ofsignals for detection of touch inputs.

The memory unit 74 is a unit for preventing a loss of the touch signals.In the case that CPU is at a “busy” state in a process of processing alot of signals, a case that do not recognize the position detectionsignal can occur. Since the position detection signal that has not beenalready recognized cannot be reproduced, this can cause a loss ofsignals. The touch input detector 70 prevents the signal loss by usingof the memory unit 74. For example, the touch input detector 70temporarily stores the received position detection signals in the memoryunit 74, and scans the whole position detection signals applied to thefirst signal lines 32, to then read out the memory unit 74 and tothereby confirm whether or not lost signals exist.

The area calculator 80 calculates an area of a region where a touchinput has occurred if the touch input has been detected in the touchinput detector 70. Calculation of the touch input area can beimplemented by various methods. For example, an area of a region wheretouch inputs occur can be calculated by detecting the outermost pointsamong points where touch inputs have been detected. However, a simplermethod of calculating a touch input area is provided in this embodiment.

Preferably, the area calculator 80 adds the number of the touch cells 60where touch inputs have been detected, to thereby calculate a touchinput area. For this purpose, it is desirable for the touch inputdetection device to detect a multi-touch input. The multi-touch can bedetected by a software program. For example, the touch input detector 70scans the position detection signals at high speed, and interrupts theswitching elements 40 for the touch cells 60 that have received therespective position detection signals when the scanning has beencompleted once. In this manner, the number of the touch cells 60 wherethe touch inputs have been detected can be confirmed if such scanning isperformed several times. More preferably, the touch input detector 70 isconfigured to detect touch inputs for a number of points simultaneously.For this purpose, each touch cell 60 is configured to performinterruption of the position detection signal independently. Theembodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 shows a multi-touch detection example.

The zooming signal generator 85 judges a change of a touch input areathat has been calculated in the area calculator 80 according to lapse oftime and thus produces a zooming signal. For example, the zooming signalgenerator 85 produces a zoom-in signal when the area of the touch inputregion increases according to lapse of time, and produces a zoom-outsignal when the area of the touch input region decreases according tolapse of time. Reversely, the zooming signal generator 85 may produce azoom-out signal when the area of the touch input region increasesaccording to lapse of time, and produce a zoom-in signal when the areaof the touch input region decreases according to lapse of time.

An embodiment of FIG. 6 shows an example of a composition of a touchpanel for multi-touch detection. Referring to FIG. 6, first signal lines32, second signal lines 34, gate signal lines 36 and auxiliary signallines 37 are arranged on one surface of the upper substrate 30.Meanwhile, a unit touch cell 60 includes a conductive pad 50, a firstTFT 42, and a second TFT 44. The input terminal of the first TFT 42 isconnected to the first signal line 32 and the gate terminal thereof isconnected to the gate signal line 36. The output terminal of the firstTFT 42 is connected to the gate terminal of the second TFT 46. The inputterminal of the second TFT 46 is connected to the auxiliary signal line37, and the output terminal thereof is connected to the second signalline 34. Meanwhile, the conductive pad 50 is connected to the gateterminal of the second TFT 46.

In this embodiment, the touch input detector 70 applies a scan pulse tothe respective gate signal lines 36 sequentially, to thus turn on thefirst TFT 42 sequentially. Otherwise, the touch input detector 70 turnson the gate signals Gn (n=1, 2, 3) simultaneously, to thereby inducecharging with a human body, and then applies auxiliary signals to theauxiliary signal lines 37 sequentially, to thereby detect positionswhere touch inputs have occurred.

The above-described embodiment of FIG. 6 enables a multi-touch detectionsince the first TFT 42 insulates signals between the conductive pads 50.

FIG. 7 is a waveform diagram showing an example of acquiring a touchsignal in the embodiment of FIG. 6. Referring to FIG. 7, the touch inputdetector 70 offers a scan pulse sequentially to each gate signal line36. The gate signal Gn offered by the touch input detector 70 has avoltage level of a sufficient size so that the gate electrode of thefirst TFT 42 enters an active area. For example, the gate signal Gn ispreferably set to be larger by 3V or higher than the position detectionsignal Dn that is transmitted via the first signal line 32. In case of apreferred embodiment of the present invention, the high (Hi) voltagelevel of the position detection signal Dn is 13V and the high (Hi)voltage level of the gate signal Gn is 18V. In addition, in order toturn off the first TFT 42 stably, the gate OFF voltage is set to be at arange of −5 to −7V.

The gate signal Gn has enough observation time between the respectivesignals. This is to make the virtual capacitor formed between the fingerof the human body and the conductive pad 50 according to an approach ofthe human body, have a sufficient charging time. As illustrated, a pauseperiod of a observation time 1 is sufficiently given between the gatesignals G1 and G2. In the case that any one of the gate signals Gn is ata high state (Hi), the position detection signal Dn that is appliedthrough the first signal line 32 is provided to keep a high state (Hi).Preferably, when one gate signal Gn is at a pause period, the positiondetection signal Dn also has a slight pause period.

The touch input detector 70 offers an observation voltage through theauxiliary signal lines 37. The auxiliary signal Auxn offers anobservation voltage lower by 3V or more than 13V that is a voltage thatis charged between the finger and the conductive pad 50 by the positiondetection signal Dn at a high (Hi) level. For example, it is enough thatthe observation voltage of the auxiliary signal Auxn is about 5V.

Referring to FIG. 7, the waveform that is obtained through the secondsignal lines 34 and the process of acquiring the touch signal throughthe waveform will be described.

If a human body does not approach although the gate signal has beenapplied and then the observation time has passed, as in the case thatthe gate signals G1 and G2 are applied, the signals Sn that are obtainedthrough the second signal lines 34 have the waveform illustrated in FIG.7. This is because the electrostatic capacity is not formed in theconductive pad 50 since the human body has not approached. In moredetail, when the gate signal G1 is applied, the first TFT 42 is turnedon. In this case, since the voltage level that is applied to the gateelectrode of the second TFT 44 is higher than that is applied to theinput electrode of the second TFT 44 through the auxiliary signal line37, the second TFT 44 is also turned on. By the way, because wiringresistance and parasitic electrostatic capacity of the second signalline 44 exist, as illustrated, the obtained signals Sn have a curvedline in a section ascending up to a high (Hi) level and a sectiondescending down to a low (Lo) level, respectively. As illustrated, it isassumed that a time from the immediate time after the first TFT 42 hasbecome turned off by the gate signal G1 and has been changed into anobservation time, to the time the gate voltage of the second TFT 44descends sharply and the obtained signal Sn descends at a low (Lo) levelperfectly, is “T1.” Here, a time delay that occurs in the output signalsSn in comparison with the input signals Dn in the waveform diagram ofFIG. 7 has been ignored.

If a bodily approach is achieved to a right-lower touch cell 60 of FIG.6 at a certain point in time, an electrostatic capacity will be formedbetween the conductive pad 50 and the bodily finger in the correspondingtouch cell 60. As can be seen from the waveform of FIG. 7, if a touchoccurs in a section where the gate signal G3 is at a high (Hi) level, avirtual capacitor is formed at a moment the bodily finger approaches tothe conductive pad 50. Here, as the waveform of S3 is distorted at atouch occurrence point in time in the waveform diagram of FIG. 7, chargevoltage can be varied at a charge beginning time. However, the S3waveform rises up to a high (Hi) level as soon as charging is ended.

By the way, in the case that the mode of the G3 signal is changed intoan observation time, that is, the G3 signal is turned off, voltage thatis charged in the virtual capacitor is discharged, and the gate voltageof the second TFT 44 descends slowly. As can be seen from the S3waveform, the output waveform of the second TFT 44 exhibits a uniqueoutput characteristic. Here, a time that is taken for the Sn waveform tofall down to 50% or below is assumed “T2.”

Referring to the waveform diagram of FIG. 7, it can be seen that thetimes T1 and T2 have a considerable time difference therebetween. Thetouch input detector 70 can acquire a touch signal by reading the timethat is taken for the waveform of the signal Sn that has been obtainedthrough the second signal line 34 after the gate signal Gn has beenturned off as described above to descend or descending voltage at acertain point in time. Because the signal S3 has been acquired at anobservation time after the gate signal G3 has been turned off in thecase of the touch signal in this example, the acquired touch signal hasa coordinate value corresponding to “D3, S3.”

The embodiment of FIG. 7 is one example for acquiring a touch signal. Itis possible to acquire the touch signal by an alternative method thatdiffers from the FIG. 7 embodiment. For example, according to thealternative method, after all the gate signals Gn have been turned onall at once, to thus induce the virtual capacitor formed between thehuman body and the conductive pad 50 to be charged, signals aresequentially applied to the auxiliary signal lines 37 to thereby observeoutput waveform.

Otherwise, a method of detecting electric current can be used. As oneembodiment of this case, the reference voltage such as ground electricpotential flows through the auxiliary signal lines 37. The touch signaldrive IC 71 applies the reference voltage to the second signal lines 34,and detects magnitude of the electric current flowing when the gatesignal Gn has become high and thus the second TFT 44 has been turned on,to thereby judge whether or not a touch has been input. It is obvious toone of ordinary skill in the art that the method of acquiring the touchsignal can be implemented in various forms according to thetechnological spirit of the present invention.

The above-described embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 is nothing but oneembodiment for detecting multi-touch, and such a method of detectingmulti-touch may be implemented in various ways. In addition, the touchinput detection method according to this invention requires onlymulti-touch detection in order to calculate an area of touch inputregion simpler, but does not necessarily require multi-touch detection.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart view showing a touch input detection methodaccording to this invention, and FIG. 9A through 9E show examples that azooming control is implemented with a touch input of a finger in thisinvention. Referring to FIG. 8, the touch input detection methodaccording to this invention will be described below.

The touch input detection method according to this invention produces azooming signal based on a change in an area of a touch input accordingto lapse of time. Hereinafter, a touch input that occurs earlier thananother with a predetermined time interval is called a “first touchinput” and a touch input that occurs later than another with apredetermined time interval is called a “second touch input.” The firsttouch input and the second touch input do not only mean two touchinputs, but also define a touch input that occurs earlier than anotheraccording to lapse of time as a first touch input and a touch input thatoccurs later than another according to lapse of time as a second touchinput. The first and second touch inputs are defined as a relativeconcept of sequential touch inputs that occur according to lapse oftime.

In order to make a conventional touch input detection device changedinto a zoom gesture detection mode, a display device needs to beactivated into a zoom gesture input mode by an input through a graphicaluser interface (GUI) or other buttons. The touch input detection methodaccording to the present invention can also implement a zoom gesture bychange into such a zoom gesture input mode. However, this invention candetect a zoom gesture on a display screen without making a specialchange of a mode. Also, a zooming control can be executed through atouch input directly on the display screen in the touch input detectionmethod according to this invention, to thereby produce a zooming signalon the basis of a point where a touch input has occurred. This has atechnological merit that a region on a screen to be magnified or reduceddoes not need to be designated intentionally.

First, a step of detecting a first touch input is begun (ST100). Thetouch input detector 70 sends a position detection signal for all touchcells 60 in the above-described embodiment. If a user makes a touchinput means 90 contact a touch panel 10, a virtual capacitor is formedbetween the touch input means 90 and a conductive pad 50 at a statewhere the touch input means 90 and the conductive pad 50 are spaced by apredetermined interval “d” from each other as shown in FIG. 9A. Inaddition, the touch input detector 70 detects a position detectionsignal via a second signal 34 by switching of a TFT 40, that is, detectsan output waveform change in each touch cell 60 accurately.

Next, an area of a region where the first touch input has been detectedis calculated (ST110). In this embodiment, an area calculator 80 addsthe number of touch cells 60 where touch inputs have been detected, tothus calculate a touch input area. The number of the touch cells 60where touch inputs have occurred in FIG. 9A is nine in total, and anarea S1 about the first touch input is “tc*9”.

FIG. 9B shows a composition of a screen when a user performs a firsttouch input. The user touched a central part at a western coast on themap of the Northern America.

Next, a second touch input that occurs with a predetermined timeinterval is detected (ST120). Then, an area of a region where the secondtouch input has been detected is calculated (ST130). Here, it is assumedthat a finger is laid down at a state where the user has kept the firsttouch input as shown in FIG. 9C. The number of touch cells 60 wheretouch inputs have occurred in FIG. 9C is fifteen in total, and a touchinput area S2 detected for the second touch input is “tc*15.”

At the next step, a change in the areas from the first touch input tothe second touch input is judged (ST140). A zooming signal generator 85compares signals S1 and S2 that are output from the area calculator 80,and produces a zooming signal according to an increase of the area and adecrease thereof. A zoom-in signal is produced if the area of S2 hasincreased than that of S1 (ST150). Meanwhile, a zoom-out signal isproduced if the area of S2 has decreased than that of S1 (ST160). Asdescribed before, a zooming signal can be produced in contrary accordingto an increase or decrease of the touch input area. For example, whenthe area increases, a zoom-out signal is produced, and when the areadecreases, a zoom-in signal can be produced.

The second touch input area of FIG. 9C increased in comparison with thefirst touch input area of FIG. 9A in the illustrated embodiment. Thezooming signal generator 85 produced a zoom-in signal in thisembodiment, and an image is enlarged and displayed on the basis of thecentral point where the touch input has occurred as shown in FIG. 9D.

If the user lays down the finger more, the image is further enlargedafter predetermined time has passed. As shown in FIG. 9E, the westerncoast of the Northern America is further enlarged and displayed.

Although it is not illustrated, if a user lifts the finger to reduce acontact area with respect to the touch panel in comparison with thefirst touch input on the FIG. 9E display screen, the zooming signalgenerator 85 will judge that the touch input area has been reduced inthe step ST140. Then, the process of the touch input detection methodgoes to the step ST160, to accordingly make the image reduced anddisplayed on the display screen.

The aforenamed embodiments have been described with respect to anexample of counting the number of the touch cells 60 where touch inputshave occurred, to thus calculate an area of the region where the touchinputs have been detected. By the way, if size of the unit touch cell 60is bigger than an end area of a finger, the number of the touch cells 60where touch inputs occur may not be changed even if a change in acontact area of the finger on the screen has occurred. In this case, itis difficult to count the number of the touch cells 60 to thus judge achange in the touch input area. An embodiment of judging a change in anarea of a touch input in a method differing from the previouslydescribed embodiment will be described below.

For example, in the case that size of the unit touch cell 60 is biggerthan an end area of a finger as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the end ofthe finger is made to contact the predetermined touch cell 60 as shownin FIG. 10A in order to generate a first touch input, and then thefinger is laid down more as shown in FIG. 10B in order to generate asecond touch input that widens a contact area of the finger on thedisplay screen. However, the first and second touch inputs may beachieved in an identical touch cell 60.

In the above-described case, a change in the area of the unit touch cell60 is detected, to thereby judge a change in the areas from the firsttouch input to the second touch input. For example, a change inelectrostatic capacity that is formed between the touch input means 90and the conductive pad 50 in the embodiments of FIGS. 2 through 7, tothereby judge a change in the areas from the first touch input to thesecond touch input.

Referring to FIG. 2, the conductive pad 50 and the touch input means 90are positioned with an interval “d” spaced from each other and faced toeach other with an opposing area, to accordingly form an electrostaticcapacity of a formula that is illustrated on the right side of FIG. 2.If charges charged in the electrostatic capacity that is formed betweenthe conductive pad 50 and the touch input means 90 are dischargedthrough the first switching element 42 of FIG. 6, a discharge constantis proportional to an on-resistance (Rdson that is several mega ohms orso) and an electrostatic capacity value of the first switching element42. Thus, if the on-resistance of the first switching element 42 is keptconstant, magnitude of the electrostatic capacity becomes large as theopposing area between the touch input means 90 and the conductive pad 50is wider. This means that the discharge constant increases.

Here, if time that is taken until voltage or electric current that isdetected through the second signal line 34 reaches a given value isdetected, or a voltage or electric current value is detected at certaintime, the opposing area between the touch input means 90 and theconductive pad 50 can be calculated.

If a touch occurs and thus an electrostatic capacity is formed betweenthe touch input means 90 and the conductive pad 50, duration time ofelectric current or magnitude of voltage input into the signal processor73 through the second signal 34 becomes longer or larger than those ofthe touch cell 60 where no touch occurs. The magnitude of the detectedduration time or voltage is processed by the signal processor 73, tothus discriminate whether or not a touch occurs so as to be stored inthe memory unit 74. In the case that magnitude of the electric potentialof each touch cell 60 is detected by a certain time interval, time thatis taken until the electric potential or electric current not less thana reference value is detected becomes long as the opposing area betweenthe touch input means 90 and the conductive pad 50 becomes wide.Therefore, a change in the magnitude of the electrostatic capacity isdetected, to thereby calculate a change in the opposing area between thetouch input means 90 and the conductive pad 50.

For example, when a second touch input is detected as shown in FIG. 10Bin comparison with when a first touch input is detected as shown in FIG.10A, time that is taken until the electric potential not less than areference value is detected becomes long. This means an increase of atouch input area. Therefore, the zooming signal generator 85 judges anincrease of a touch input area, and produces a zoom-in signal.

On the one hand, the zooming signal generator 85 is configured to judgea change in the areas from the first touch input to the second touchinput and thus produces a zooming signal, only in the case that thefirst touch input and the second touch input occur continuously(not tobe cut off) within predetermined time. A reason of detecting a change inthe areas of the continuous touch inputs as described above is todistinguish zoom gestures from other touch inputs. If a zoom gesture isdefinitely distinguished from other touch inputs, a special process ofentering the zoom gesture detection mode may be unnecessary, to therebysimplify an algorithm about the touch input detection and increase userconvenience.

On the other hand, if a process of entering the zoom gesture detectionmode exists separately, the zooming signal generator 85 may beconfigured to produce a zooming signal, even in the case that the firsttouch input and the second touch input have occurred intermittently.

In addition, the above embodiments have been described with respect tothe cases of implementing a zoom gesture with only one finger, but thetechnological spirit or concept is not necessarily limited to the casesof implementing a zoom gesture with only one finger. For example, evenin the case that a user executes a touch input with two fingers or more,a change in an area of the touch input is detected to thereby perform azooming control. In the case that a zooming control is executed with twofingers, a change in the area of the total regions contacting the twofingers is judged to thus execute a zooming control. For example, in thecase that the two fingers get wider, it is judged that the area of theregions that are located between the two fingers increases, to thusproduce a zoom-in signal. Here, the central portion between the twofingers may become a zooming center.

As an alternative example, the central portion of expansion or reductionof an image is selected with one finger and a zooming control can beexecuted by a change in the area of a touch input with the other finger.As another alternative example, even in the case of contacting a touchpen, a change in a contact area is detected to thereby execute a zoomingcontrol.

As described above, the present invention has been described withrespect to particularly preferred embodiments. However, the presentinvention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it is possiblefor one who has an ordinary skill in the art to make variousmodifications and variations, without departing off the spirit of thepresent invention. Thus, the protective scope of the present inventionis not defined within the detailed description thereof but is defined bythe claims to be described later and the technical spirit of the presentinvention.

1. A touch input detection device that detects a contact or approach ofa touch input means (90) such as a finger of a human body, an electricconductor or a touch pen on a touch panel (10) and produces an inputsignal, the touch input detection device comprising: an area calculator(80) that calculates an area of a corresponding touch input region at apoint in place where the touch input has been detected; and a zoomingsignal generator (85) that judges a change in the area of the touchinput that has been calculated in the area calculator (80) according tolapse of time, wherein the touch panel (10) is installed in the upperportion of a display device.